Pak releases 2 detained officials of Indian High Commission

PTI, Jun 16, 2020, 8:57 AM IST

Islamabad: Two officials of the Indian High Commission were released on Monday, June 15 hours after the Pakistani police arrested them for their alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident here.

Police released the two officials after the Foreign Office informed the authorities that they had diplomatic immunity.

“The FO identified the officials as Dwimu Brahma and Paul Selvadhas who arrived in Pakistan in 2017. Both of them were non-diplomats,” it said.

Police said that after completing formality, they were released and handed over to an official of the Indian mission.

“Officials of the Foreign Office were also present on the occasion,” they said.

The two officials were arrested in the morning from the Embassy Road in G-6 area of the capital after their vehicle allegedly hit a pedestrian.

A police official told the media that they were shifted to Secretariat Police Station and a case was registered against them for “injuring a person in reckless driving and trying to flee.”

According to the FIR, they were allegedly carrying fake currency.

The pedestrian was critically injured and shifted to a hospital for treatment, Geo News reported, quoting some eyewitnesses.

Earlier on Monday, India summoned the Pakistan charge d’affaires in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest to him over the reported arrest of two officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

“Accidents involving vehicles belonging to diplomatic missions have been frequent in recent years,” Pakistani media reports said.

Earlier this year, a SUV belonging to the US Embassy drove into a car on a main artery of Islamabad, killing a woman and injuring five members of her family. The police arrested the Pakistani driver of the US Embassy and registered a case against him.

Monday’s incident comes two weeks after India expelled two Pakistan High Commission officials here on charges of espionage. India had declared Abid Hussain and Muhammad Tahir as ‘persona non grata’ after they were found obtaining sensitive documents relating to the movement of Indian Army troops from an Indian national, according to authorities here.

Following their expulsion, Pakistani agencies started harassing a number of Indian High Commission officials in Islamabad including charge d’affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia.

Pakistan had downgraded diplomatic ties by expelling the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad following India’s decision to withdraw the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August last year.